Haute-Loire, Ardèche, Rhône and Loire on red alert, 20 departments in orange

Thursday 17th October 2024 08:10 AM

The sky is once again falling over part of the south and center of France. In its midday bulletin, Météo-France places Haute-Loire, Loire, Rhône and Ardèche on red alert, and 20 other departments on orange alert due to “exceptional precipitation”.

This “intense rain-storm episode […] requires special monitoring due to its intensity and duration” with “uncertainties about the location of the strongest storms and the heaviest precipitation”, indicates the weather agency.

Highway flooded and schools closed

The flooded A47 motorway was closed between Lyon and Saint-Etienne and rail traffic between the two cities suspended, according to a press release from the Rhône prefect. In Ardèche, several roads have been closed due to flooding or landslides, according to the prefecture.

In Haute-Loire, the “concern mainly concerns the Lignon” but “the Loire has also gone into red vigilance, even if the vigilance is less pronounced” indicated to AFP the prefect Yvan Cordier, who went to the Chambon-sur-Lignon. In this town, the college near the river was closed and the college students were taken care of at the station, he said. Schools were also evacuated, some houses were flooded and livestock were swept away, said the mayor of Chambon-sur-Lignon Jean-Michel Eyraud.

Trains at a standstill

Rail traffic is completely interrupted on several lines north and north-east of Toulouse for the entire day on Thursday due to “strong winds, rain and storms”, announces liO Train SNCF Occitanie on its website. “In order to guarantee the safety of travelers and staff, a total interruption of traffic on the Toulouse-Rodez, Toulouse-Mazamet, Rodez-Brive, Montauban-Cahors-Brive, Toulouse-Figeac-Aurillac axes is planned for Thursday October 17 throughout the day. No road substitution will be put in place,” specifies liO Train SNCF Occitanie.

On Wednesday morning, the SNCF also decided to completely interrupt train traffic between Alès (Gard) and Langogne (Lozère) until Friday morning, “for the safety of travelers and in order to avoid any incident”.